Residents of Chechnya support Muftiate's refusal to introduce restrictions because of coronavirus

The danger of coronavirus spread has not stopped believers in Chechnya from attending mosques.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 16, the Russia's Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) recommended to shorten the Friday namaz (prayer) and impose restrictions on visiting mosques. The measures are aimed at preventing the COVID-19 infection spread. The Muftiates of a number of regions followed the recommendations, but in Chechnya they restricted themselves to calls for observing the hygiene rules.

After the above SAM's appeal, the visiting rate of Chechen mosques did not drop; the Friday prayer passed as usual, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

"Our mosque is capable to house about a thousand people; there were a lot of believers as always. Everything was as usual. I saw only three or four people in medical masks. The rest of the believers looked as usual. In general, people are calm about the situation, because believers understand that nothing can happen without the Allah's will," Magomed, a Mullah of a mosque in Grozny, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Believers have confirmed the absence of noticeable changes. "I didn't notice any differences today during the Friday namaz. There were a lot of people, as always; the entire car park in front of the mosque was full," Khasan, a local resident, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 21, 2020 at 06:55 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.